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Got to see almost the entire practice today, for the first time in a couple of seasons. This was a good to see from start to finish too. Very energetic workout on both sides of the ball. The team was in Shells again today and there were a lot of stand out performers during the practice.

I got a chance to watch the kickers and punters work out before practice and from the observation today, I didn’t see a difference in the punting performances of either Tyler Hull or Patrick Fish. It did look like they’ve added some hang time on their punts, but the inconsistency and lack of distance is still there. It looks like (for now) the Kickoffs are Landon Ard’s responsibility. Of all the Kickers, it seems that Elliott Fry is the only one who seems to have improved. His distance looks like it still tops out around 40-45 yards, but he has put a lot more arch on his longer kicks, and there’s a bit more “Oomph” in all his attempts.

Running down the positions for this evening.

Quarterbacks:Dylan Thompson was ON today. Very sharp for pretty much the entire practice in throwing and running the offense. As was the case last night the battle is still going on for the #2 spot behind Dylan. Both Connor Mitch and Brendon Nosovitch had so-so performances. (much like last night). Connor had the better night throwing the ball for completions, but his percentage today was more a result of some outstanding plays made by the wide receivers / tight ends. Perry Orth got a few more reps today than he got yesterday, and had some nice throws. Right now, Noso is second on the depth chart this spring and so far he hasn’t gotten a challenge from either of the guys behind him for that position, but he hasn’t done a lot to close the gap between he and Dylan either.

Running Backs:Kind of a quiet day for these guys. Shon Carson looked like he got the majority of reps today and did a good job with the increase in snaps. Same as yesterday, Wilds still had on the Yellow jersey, and Mike Davis took a few reps early in the 11 on 11, then sat out the remainder of the practice. David Williams didn’t get as many reps today as he did in the workout yesterday, but did a good job with the few he did get. Looked very good again bouncing to the outside when there was nothing open at the point of attack, and good breakaway speed when he gets to the corner. Very good looking runner and a high ceiling for improvement too. This young man has a good career ahead of him here. The bulk of the carries from the backfield during the Skels and full team drills were given to the Fullbacks and walk on tailbacks, so guys like Darius Paulk, Jordan Diaz, Rod Talley, Devin Potter got a chance to show their talents.

Wide Receivers / Tight Ends:There was a new number on the field tonight that had a lot of people asking “Who Is Number 40” ? He was not on any of the rosters from any of the people covering the practice, but the guy had an outstanding practice at the Tight end spot. Someone standing near me said he was a walk on that joined the team today, and he told me the guy’s last name was Austin. Not sure about any details surrounding Mr Austin, but I can tell you he is an impressive looking TE, both blocking and catching the football. He was thrown to several times in the team drills by all of our QBs, and a few of those catches came from low thrown balls that #40 went down and took off of the top of the grass. When he was not catching passes, he was putting defensive linemen on their butts. Along with Mr Austin, Pharoh Cooper brought his A Game today catching several balls through the team drills. Cooper seemed to be a favorite target for Dylan Thompson as they connected on 5-6 very good looking pass plays. The majority of those passes were slants and hitches in the middle of the field in tight coverage. Shaq Roland caught a couple of nice passes today during the 11-on-11, on of them was a deep go route thrown by Connor Mitch. To my recollection, I only saw one pass completion to Shamier Jeffery during the team drills, but it was a REALLY NICE catch of deep hitch along the sideline thrown by Dylan Thompson. Also catching passes that I remember were during the team drills were Drew Owens, Andrew Bunch and a couple by Matrick Belton. K J Brent only caught one ball today, but it was a nicely thrown deep ball from Thompson during the Skels. Buster Anderson didn’t see much action, but what little he was in, he made the most of by catching all three of the balls that were thrown his way.

A couple of notes from the trenches:Mike Matulis is definitely getting prepared for taking over Ronald Patrick’s spot from last season as he took every rep with the first unit at Right Guard today. The first unit (Dylan’s squad) right now is Cody Waldrop at Center, AJ Cann at Left Guard, Mike Matulis at Right Guard, Brandon Shell is at Right Tackle and Corey Robinson is the Left Tackle. They haven’t solidified the first and second units on the D/line just yet as there are a lot of combinations being used there. It looks to me like the majority of reps being taken though are JT Surratt and Gerald Dixon Jr on the inside, with rotating reps at both DE Spots. Darius English has seen a lot of reps on the strong side, but so has Mason Harris, and Ced Cooper.

Linebackers / Secondary:Continued excellence extending from his performance last night for Rico McWilliams. Once again, he was not beaten by the few deep attempts that were thrown his way, and every time they thought they could connect there, he was stride for stride with his man. He is what you want to see from a cover corner, and after two days, seems to be the best performer of the of all of our secondary players. I’m liking what I’m seeing from the play of Rico McWilliams !! Chaz Elder had a good performance today as well, batting down a couple of balls and coming up and making some good plays in run support. There were no interceptions from any of the LBs or DBs tonight but there were several plays where the receivers and RBs were covered tightly enough to force the QBs to pull the ball down and run the ball, or have the whistle blow the play dead. Sharrod Golightly and TJ Holloman were back on the field tonight and both guys did pretty well in limited reps. The second level of the defense was not “quite as dominating” as they were last night, but overall they did have another solid performance. No breakdowns or major mistakes that were present.

Scrimmage Tomorrow Morning at the Cockpit for anyone who can go, please post your observations, as I will be out of town. Would like to hear how the team looks under game conditions.

Last year I said going into the season "BASED ON PRACTICES" that I
thought our linebackers would surprise a lot of people, and even though
they were young, that I felt they could hold their own against the
competition in the SEC. When the season started, it was a little tougher
for them to adjust to the competition of this conference than I thought
and they struggled early on.... but the talent I saw in the practices, and
the speed and energy finally came together about mid season and our
young guys finished like vets.

I see our secondary similar to that now. Very fast, good skills and technique
and a couple of stand out cover guys. We're doing great against our own
personnel. It may be tougher on them when the season starts and they're
facing some of the best WRs in the country. We'll have some solid
freshman coming in to either fill in a spot or two, or provide some quality
depth if needed. I just hope that what they are doing now, can move
onto the field come gametime against our opponents. Right now the
secondary looks solid. It was a question mark coming into the spring
practice. So far, so good

There was a new number on the field tonight that had a lot of people asking “Who Is Number 40” ? He was not on any of the rosters from any of the people covering the practice, but the guy had an outstanding practice at the Tight end spot. Someone standing near me said he was a walk on that joined the team today, and he told me the guy’s last name was Austin. Not sure about any details surrounding Mr Austin, but I can tell you he is an impressive looking TE, both blocking and catching the football. He was thrown to several times in the team drills by all of our QBs, and a few of those catches came from low thrown balls that #40 went down and took off of the top of the grass. When he was not catching passes, he was putting defensive linemen on their butts.

I believe that walk-on TE you are referring to is Jacob AUGUST. Fresh out of Fork Union Military Academy Prep. I knew him personally as a local out of Cardinal Newman Highschool (Catholic Private School in Cola). Here is a link to his 247.

I believe that walk-on TE you are referring to is Jacob AUGUST. Fresh out of Fork Union Military Academy Prep. I knew him personally as a local out of Cardinal Newman Highschool (Catholic Private School in Cola). Here is a link to his 247.

!!!!

For some reason he got overlooked BIG TIME. ... I had him on my original
roster three days ago, and they had his name listed but the number was
blank. When the roster was updated, his name was removed for some
reason. ..... I got him added to the roster now. Hope this young man
continues to prove himself in the next couple of weeks and performs the
way he did yesterday. His play was IMPRESSIVE !

For some reason he got overlooked BIG TIME. ... I had him on my original
roster three days ago, and they had his name listed but the number was
blank. When the roster was updated, his name was removed for some
reason. ..... I got him added to the roster now. Hope this young man
continues to prove himself in the next couple of weeks and performs the
way he did yesterday. His play was IMPRESSIVE !

Let us know if they let him work out a bit with the kickers and punters.

__________________

Quote:

Muschamp said he doesn't have a 3 year or 5 year plan, his plan is to win now and decisions will be based on winning now.

Muschamp believes that recruiting within a five-hour radius of USC, "we can recruit good enough players to win the East every year."

For some reason he got overlooked BIG TIME. ... I had him on my original
roster three days ago, and they had his name listed but the number was
blank. When the roster was updated, his name was removed for some
reason. ..... I got him added to the roster now. Hope this young man
continues to prove himself in the next couple of weeks and performs the
way he did yesterday. His play was IMPRESSIVE !

He had a couple of full ride offers to lower tier FBS as well as FCS schools but wanted bigger things. He was gonna walk on at Penn St but the coaching change he opted to walk on here at home. 6'6 250 when classes started in January. Big potential upside

I am on my way to Columbia after driving straight back to Aiken from Connecticut. I will be a little late, but can't pass up an opportunity to be in the cockpit!

__________________
"...the vast multitude rose as one man and stood on their feet, shouting, stamping, and filling all the place with such a waving of napkins that it was like a snowstorm..."
Mark Twain

__________________
"...the vast multitude rose as one man and stood on their feet, shouting, stamping, and filling all the place with such a waving of napkins that it was like a snowstorm..."
Mark Twain

__________________
"...the vast multitude rose as one man and stood on their feet, shouting, stamping, and filling all the place with such a waving of napkins that it was like a snowstorm..."
Mark Twain

__________________
"...the vast multitude rose as one man and stood on their feet, shouting, stamping, and filling all the place with such a waving of napkins that it was like a snowstorm..."
Mark Twain